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The Most Dangerous Writing App
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Posted by Dr Andus
Mar 1, 2016 at 12:24 AM
Something I came across at Hacker News:
http://www.themostdangerouswritingapp.com/
“If you stop typing for more than five seconds, all progress will be lost.”
Here is the associated discussion on HN:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11197190
Someone also linked to Write or Die 2, which seems to be a similar idea:
Posted by Lucas
Mar 1, 2016 at 04:00 AM
There’s also the similar “Flowstate” app for Mac and iOS:
http://www.hailoverman.com/flowstate
Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Mar 1, 2016 at 04:28 AM
Oh. It eats *everything* if the screen goes red.
Anyway, the whole thing seems a bit silly though I see how it’s kind of amusing. Just not practical. It’s not difficult to say, set the stopwatch app on my phone for 5 minutes and just write. That was actually a required exercise in several writing courses I’ve been through.
My thoughts might also be coloured by time spent working at daily newspapers where the situation was crank out 400 words in the next 15 minutes or you’re fired. This just doesn’t feel all that intense in comparison.
It’s a little fun, but I really don’t see any practical use.
Posted by Paul Korm
Mar 1, 2016 at 09:52 PM
Manfred Kuehn happened to recently discuss an offsetting opinion (slowing down your writing) at Taking Note
http://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/what-about-second-drafts.html
Posted by Hugh
Mar 2, 2016 at 11:55 AM
Interesting. The book cited in the comment to Manfred’s post - “The Psychology of Writing” by Ronald Kellogg - also looks as if it may be worth reading (in Kindle form!), although possibly overtaken by more recent research. My experience of writing scripts to deadlines suggests to me that a fast first draft followed by one or more subsequent drafts at a more considered pace is optimal, especially for a larger readership or audience for whom clarity is essential and when complicated ideas are involved.